If JFK Lived: 5 Ways History Would Change

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John F. Kennedy surviving his assassination has always been an
irresistible twist for authors of alternate histories. Some of
the best writers of the past 50 years have tackled this plot
device since that fateful day in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Some
are fanciful, such as the 1992 short story collection "Alternate
Kennedys," which sent the clan to Hollywood. Others take a
serious turn, reversing the 1960s' amazing progress in civil
rights.

Here are five intriguing ways history may have changed if Kennedy
had survived the
assassination attempt, or if gunman Lee Harvey Oswald had
never taken the shot.

1. The 1964 election

What if JFK had lived through the assassination attempt on Nov.
22, 1963? There may never have been a Warren Commission to
investigate the crime, and the wealth of
conspiracy theories that followed may have never arisen. But
there would have still been investigations. [ The
10 Wildest Conspiracy Theories ]

And in the alternate history presented in Bryce Zabel's novel,
"Surrounded by Enemies: What If Kennedy Survived Dallas?"
(Publish Green, 2013), those investigations threaten Kennedy's
ability to win re-election by revealing his personal and
political secrets. Those include his affairs and ties to the mob.
In Zabel's novel, the revelations trigger an impeachment battle.

2. Vietnam

Tensions were already escalating in Vietnam in 1963. Just a few
months before Kennedy was killed, he supported a coup that ended
with the death of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. In
the documentary film project "Virtual JFK," historians suggest
Kennedy would have pulled out of Vietnam, resisting pressure to
escalate the war.

Even so, after Kennedy's death, his brother Robert told reporters
that JFK had no intention of pulling out of Vietnam; historians,
as well, aren't sure how the Vietnam War would have concluded
with Kennedy in charge.

3. Civil rights

Historians describe the trouble Kennedy would have faced in
building consensus in Congress had he continued on for another
term. Rather, Lyndon B. Johnson gets credit for pushing through
the landmark civil rights and poverty-busting legislation of the
1960s. In the novel "11/22/1963" (Gallery Books, 2012), by
Stephen King, a high-school English teacher travels through a
time portal to foil Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination attempt.
When the time traveler returns to the present, he discovers the
1964 Civil Rights Act never passed.

4. The Cold War

John F. Kennedy won election by preying on fears of nuclear war,
some have argued. But just before his death, the president pushed
for a limited ban on nuclear weapons. In the book "If Kennedy
Lived: An Alternate History" (Putnam Adult, 2013), by Jeff
Greenfield, the author suggests Kennedy would have worked with
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to reduce the world's nuclear
weapons arsenal.

5. The space program

Would there be people on Mars by now if
Kennedy had lived beyond 1963? In the science fiction novel
"Voyage" (Harper Collins, 2011), by Stephen Baxter, the United
States lands people on Mars in 1986, after Kennedy survives his
assassination attempt. But JFK only serves as inspiration — it's
Nixon who approves the Mars mission. Another twist: All of the
Apollo missions beyond Apollo 14 were cancelled. Historians have
focused more on the outcome of the lunar program than a possible
Mars launch had Kennedy lived. A few think the budding détente
between Kennedy and Khrushchev could have even lead to a joint
space program.